


get up and shake the glitter off your clothes, now

by lookatallthemoresigive



Category: Warrior Nun (TV)
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Canon Continuation, Canon-Typical Violence, Crack Treated Seriously, Elvis Impersonator, F/F, Las Vegas Wedding, Post Season 1, what if we woke up married in vegas and we're both nuns!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:47:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25937638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookatallthemoresigive/pseuds/lookatallthemoresigive
Summary: “We’ll get it annulled. We just need to get dressed and go to the county clerk right away. It’s open, right? I’m sure it’s open. It should be pretty easy. 'Annulling a Vegas marriage',” Ava narrates as she googles. “Oh, hey, look at this! You can annul a void marriage if one of the parties is already legally married. Beatrice, aren’t you married to Jesus?"“Lord help us,” Mary mutters, rubbing her temples.
Relationships: Sister Beatrice/Ava Silva
Comments: 41
Kudos: 330





	get up and shake the glitter off your clothes, now

Ava wakes up in the second-most luxurious bed she's ever slept in, head pounding.

She turns, and smiles. Beatrice is still asleep.

Considering she's usually up hours before her, praying or meditating or training, it's nice to see her friend have a well deserved morning in.

Indeed, she's never seen her this relaxed. Beatrice's hair, which has gotten long since they've been on the run, is in her face.

Ava reaches out and brushes Beatrice's hair back. In doing so, she catches the glint of a gold band on her own ring finger.

Ava bites her lip to keep herself from giggling, then rolls on her side to reach below the bed and grab her pants. She fishes out her burner phone from the front pocket.

There's a new message from an unknown number. 

It takes her ten seconds to read it. Once finished, Ava goes ghostly pale, swears, and falls off the bed in an ungraceful heap.

The Clark County Courthouse was practically deserted when they walked in right off their red eye flight. It was 8am, too early for the locals and too late for tourists.

The fluorescent lights felt like they were boring directly into Ava’s jetlagged brain. At least they wouldn’t need the Halo Bearer for this part of the plan. Ava collapsed into the bureaucratic row of seats.

Camila, however, had managed to sleep on the plane. She bounced over to a clerk. “Hi, I’m doing research for a school assignment!” Camila said brightly. They had decided nuns would be pretty conspicuous in Vegas, so in jeans and a striped sweater she passed well enough for a high schooler. Lilith stood behind her, looking for the world like her extremely bored babysitter. “I need blueprints of buildings downtown and on the Strip, but some of the ones I need are old...”

Honestly, Ava tuned the rest of Camila’s carefully crafted excuse out and pulled her hoodie up, trying to recuperate some of the sleep she lost to the screaming toddler on their flight.

“Next. Next. Hello? Ma’am?” The clerk closest to her said, waking her up.

Ava reluctantly opened her eyes and sat up. Beatrice was on the phone with Mary, so it meant this already irritated man was unfortunately talking to her.

“Uh, yeah?”

 _"_ What are you here for?"

Uh, good question. Camila and Lilith had disappeared.

"Ah yes, we have come here. For a reason. And that reason is," well, stopping the literal demon behind the Vatican attack, but he probably wouldn't have bought that. Ava looked at the sign above the clerk’s window. Her eyes lit up. "Marriage! We're here for a marriage license!"

The clerk looked up from the computer and raised an eyebrow. "You and her?" He said, pointing at Beatrice.

"—no need for a credit card, the room's already paid for. We'll be there shortly. Goodbye." Beatrice finished her phone call and joined Ava at the counter.

"Yup!" Ava yelped and slipped an arm around Beatrice's waist, pulling her close. To the untrained eye, the highly lethal nun looked impassive. But Ava knew her well enough to know the slight raise of her left eyebrow meant _what the fuck, Ava??_

"I'm going to need to see your IDs," the clerk said.

Ava slid the clerk their passports, beaming at him. Wait, shit, was she smiling too hard? She tried toning down her smile. But no, she was fake marrying Beatrice! Could kick her ass Halo or no, intimidatingly talented, kind, funny, beautiful Beatrice. She should be smiling harder! Ava smiled wide enough to show teeth. Beatrice elbowed her.

After paying for the license, and with no other excuse to be there, they exited the building. Ava leaned against a nearby pillar, zipping up her jacket. Vegas was colder than she had expected it to be. She gazed out into the parking lot. The outskirts of the city were surprisingly suburban, the desert cultivated into a mirage of beige houses and strip malls. Having spent her life surrounded by severe Gothic buildings, the mundane architecture was fascinating to her. And, okay, if she didn't make eye contact, then maybe Beatrice wouldn’t lecture her.

"Ava, you have to be more careful.”

"Well, it worked!" Ava said, stuffing the marriage license into her bomber jacket.

“Because we are in _Las Vegas_. Another city, another country, would not be as accepting of—of that excuse. It could have brought unnecessary attention to us. Just next time, think a bit more before acting, okay?”

“Alright,” Ava said. “But could you imagine the look on Mother Superion’s face if she found out what I just spent some of the money she gave us on?”

Beatrice laughed in spite of herself, shaking her head.

Ava grinned triumphantly.

Before Ava can even moan a very un-Warrior Nun-like "ow", Beatrice is awake and on her feet next to Ava, arms raised in a defensive position.

"What happened, are you hurt? Wraiths?" Beatrice says, her eyes shining with concern.

"No, we're safe! Physically. But, uh, this might be a bigger problem than your run of the mill demon," Ava says, handing her the phone.

Beatrice reads the message, looks at her, and reads it again.

"Ava," she says at last. "Why is this marriage license signed? _By us_?"

"Good morning to you too, wife," Ava says.

It is in this moment that Mary decides to walk back into the room.

Now that Ava was more awake, she couldn’t stop looking around.

The casino was bright, loud, busy. It had all the glitz of the houses JC and his crew squatted in, but none of the taste. Ava loved it. She kept craning her neck to see everything: the oversized indoor fountains, the blown glass chandeliers. She felt the plush of the carpet beneath her and breathed in the familiar smell of cigarette smoke drifting from the poker table. An old top forty song blaring from the speakers struggled to be heard against the electronic noises of hundreds of slot machines. The amount of stimulation was nearly overwhelming.

"Careful you don't break your neck from gawking so much," Lilith said, smiling.

Both Ava and Camila jumped.

“Well I’m sure this is all routine for you. Las Vegas? Has to be like, demon hotspot number one. But this is my first time here!” Ava said, flinging her arm out. "I gotta try one of those slots. Divine luck, and all." 

"You have to be at least twenty-one to step off this carpet or order a drink, so I think you'll have to test your luck another time," Camila said, amused.

"Ugh, the States suck! I can't order a freaking drink but I can—do other things." Ava made eye contact with Beatrice and quickly looked away, blushing. 

“There are demons here, yes," Lilith said, breaking the awkward silence. "But they rarely possess anyone. They feed off the energy here so much, that it’s not worth the work of actually inhabiting a body. The same thing happens in other cities, like Los Angeles.”

“Wow, that's a bit more pragmatic than I expected,” Ava muttered. The elevator door dinged open, and Beatrice led them to their hotel room. Before Ava could even admire their view (considering their budget, they had gotten a pretty decent floor overlooking the Strip) Camila had spread out photocopied blueprints on one of the beds.

“So combining these modern blueprints with the original ones we got from the County, it looks like there is a secret room in this hotel, like Kristian said, but there’s basically no way in," Camila said, pointing between her tablet and the blueprints.

“If Kristian hadn't sold the beads to some mafioso spending his golden years in Vegas, we could’ve gotten them in Cat’s Cradle, instead of having to deal with this bullshit!” Mary said.

“Hey, at least Kristian is helping us. That’s more than I can say for Duretti,” Camila said.

"We should’ve just gone back to Cat’s Cradle anyways," Lilith said, for the millionth time since Vatican City. “We could’ve found something there.”

"Which is exactly what Vincent would expect us to do. Besides, all of the relics there are coated in Divinium. It's too risky. We know this rosary belonged to Areala, and doesn't have a single trace of Divinium, which is why Kristian sold it," Beatrice said.

“This is a long shot, anyways,” Ava said, frustrated. “We aren’t a hundred percent sure I’ll get a vision of Areala just holding her stuff. Even if I did, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be anything useful.”

“We have to have faith, Ava,” Beatrice said. “It is a long shot, but considering we’re at a stalemate with Adriel, anything that could possibly give us an edge is worth investigating.”

They mulled on that, Lilith running a hand through her hair in frustration.

Ava took a closer look at the blueprints. “Hey, what about the floor above? I can phase down into it.”

“Yes, but that’s a chapel. A _wedding_ chapel. How do you even plan on getting in there?” Mary said, crossing her arms.

“Well,” Ava began, pulling out the slightly crumpled piece of paper from her jacket.

“You _what_?” Mary says to Ava, for the second time in less than twelve hours. "You actually got married? Ava, you were not supposed to actually get married. And you did not. I know, because we were the witnesses!” She exclaims, pointing to herself and Lilith, who had gone with her to pick up breakfast. The commotion had finally woken Camila, who is now sitting up in their bed (Ava had insisted that Camila sleep in the second bed with them, mostly to stop Mary's endless jokes about their wedding night) eating a pastry, eyebrows raised.

“We didn’t get married, fully. We’re pretty sure. Right, Beatrice?”

"Yes, this must be some sort of clerical error," Beatrice says, with no small amount of relief on her face at the thought. "I believe we have the officiant's number. Let me call him."

"Officiant sure is a fancy way of saying 'Elvis impersonator’, but okay," Ava says. Honestly, though, she's also relieved. Beatrice is right. This has to be some sort of mistake, a mix-up that they'll laugh about a month from now, when they're halfway across the world from here. Jerusalem, maybe. Antarctica, with her luck. A stray thought makes her smile. "Hey, this is kinda like that Katy Pe—"

"Best not to mention that name. She is an avowed enemy of the Catholic Church," Lilith says coolly as she hands Ava a muffin.

"Wait, what?" Ava says, nearly choking on the muffin.

"Yes, she tried to buy a former convent in LA. The legal battle was quite arduous," Camila says.

"Great, I'm married, and the Catholic Church is feuding with a 2010s popstar. Any other wild shit I'm going to learn this morning, or are we done?" Ava says, gesturing wildly enough to send crumbs flying.

"Well," Camila starts.

"Joseph? Hello," Beatrice says as she glares at them to shut up. "It's Beatrice, from the wedding last night. Actually, about that…"

“You look beautiful,” Ava said to Beatrice. It was just the two of them in the chapel’s office, waiting for the officiant to come and get them.

And she did, of course. Beatrice's modest dress fit her perfectly, with beautiful hand-stitched flowers on the bodice.

Beatrice actually blushed. “You, I, uh, you look great, as well.”

Ava shifted in her dress. It was a lace dress that she’s pretty sure was a ripoff of Kate Middleton's, but they found it in the two story department H&M in the Venetian for blessedly cheap. Camila had pinned and twisted her hair in an elegant bun, arranging strands of hair to artfully frame her face. For a girl who could barely dream of a life outside of the orphanage, even this fake wedding was outside of her wildest imagination.

"No pressure, just have to go break into an old school mobster’s secret Vegas vault. By myself. In a wedding dress.”

“Ava, you’ve come so far in your training. You’re not that girl I met all those months ago. You’re a warrior now.”

“I’ve had great teachers,” Ava said, looking at Beatrice meaningfully. “But this is still one hell of a final exam.” She nervously rocked on the balls of her feet.

"Well, since Mary is one of our witnesses, I guess you could call this, a shotgun wedding," Beatrice said.

Ava looked at her in surprise and laughed in delight. She opened her mouth to make another equally terrible pun, when the Elvis impersonator came in.

“Hey there ladies, I’m Joe, but today you can call me The Ki—,” Joe stopped and looked at them with concern. "Listen, I know you already paid for a package and normally if you're sober enough to stand, mumble your vows and sign your name I don't give a shit if you regret it the next morning. But you girls are clearly not much older than eighteen. And I get it, it's exciting! First love and all. I remember the kinds of dreams I had with my first boyfriend. But eloping to Vegas to piss off your parents won't solve your problems. I need to know you're both sure about this."

Beatrice and Ava exchanged glances.

"We know we are rather young, but we have gone through quite a lot these past months together. We are sure," Beatrice said, with enough confidence and poise that Ava took her hand and squeezed it.

"She speaks four languages, and could kick my ass. I'm here to lock this down," Ava said.

Joe nodded, and put a hand on each of their shoulders. "Alright, let's get you hound dogs hitched!" he said, in his Elvis impression. "Now, which one of you lovely ladies do I have the pleasure to escort down the aisle?"

“Dibs!” Ava shouted, and looped her arm through his.

*

For this being the first and likely only time she was to be married, Ava was rather distracted throughout the ceremony.

Even their singing, dancing, _gyrating_ minister could barely keep Ava's attention. She was on edge, waiting for the signal, nodding and “yes-ing” throughout the ceremony.

It wasn’t until Beatrice took her hand, that Ava actually, truly looked at her. “For richer, for poorer, in sickness and health. In this life, or the next.” Beatrice slid the gold band onto Ava’s finger, the cool, metallic weight making this seem more real than she had anticipated.

When Ava repeated the vows, she couldn’t help the smile in her words. As she slid the ring on Beatrice’s finger, she couldn’t help but think about what their hypothetical wedding would actually look like, in a universe without demons and Halo Bearers that die and fight and die again. It’d just be them and their Sisters in a tiny old Spanish church. Ronda, maybe. Beatrice would say her vows in Latin, like a showoff, and Ava would smash the assuredly delicious cake in her own face instead of Beatrice’s, just to make her laugh, and they’d be happy.

“Thank you,” Beatrice says, and hangs up the phone.

They gather around her. “In the eyes of the state of Nevada, we are married,” Beatrice says grimly.

“But how? We didn’t even sign the certificate!” Ava exclaims, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Joseph used our electronic signatures from the wedding ceremony forms. He said he felt bad that our wedding got ruined. Apparently,” Beatrice bites her lip. “We were pretty convincing.”

Ava buries her face in her hands. She feels a stab of guilt, hot and sharp under her rib cage. She knows how important the OCS, her vows, are to Beatrice. How could she risk that with such a stupid idea?

“I can’t believe you used your real IDs,” Lilith says, haughtily. “How could you be so careless?” 

“Oh sorry I don’t keep a fake ID on me in case I have to accidentally get married!” Ava says. “Besides, this wouldn’t have happened if you had pulled the alarm halfway through the ceremony when you were supposed to, instead of at the last possible second!”

“She was waiting for my signal, and I ran into some trouble,” Camila says.

“Pointing fingers will not help us out of this mess,” Beatrice snaps. She takes a deep, calming breath. “I’m going to go pray.”

"By the power invested in me, by the state of Nevada…"

Beatrice and Ava exchanged worried glances.

A loud, piercing alarm interrupted the rest of the officiants' speech.

"Okay, just stay calm, everyone," Joe said. He hadn't dropped his Elvis impression, and Ava had to commend him for staying in character. "Let's make our way out of the hotel in an orderly fashion." 

"But our wedding! Is it a fire? What's going on? Ava, what's happening?" Beatrice shouted, reaching out for her. Beatrice wasn't exactly going to win any acting awards, but it was apparently convincing enough for their distracted minister. It helped that Lilith and Mary were guiding him out.

Ava ignored her almost wife. She knelt, putting a hand on the floor. Ava usually preferred a running start, but she settled for just visualizing the floor below her slipping away. She could feel the Halo glowing, then she was falling through concrete, pipes, faster than her brain could comprehend. Ava landed with a sickening crunch. Bile rose to her throat when she realized she couldn’t feel her legs.

“We’ll get it annulled. We just need to get dressed and go to the county clerk right away. It’s open, right? I’m sure it’s open. It should be pretty easy. 'Annulling a Vegas marriage',” Ava narrates as she googles. “Oh, hey, look at this! You can annul a void marriage if one of the parties is already legally married. Beatrice, aren’t you married to Jesus?"

“Lord help us,” Mary mutters, rubbing her temples.

“Uh.” Lilith’s holding Beatrice’s vibrating phone, which has an incoming video call. "Beatrice, it's your parents," she says, as gently as she can.

Ava watches Beatrice's face crumble into shock and horror, and then she quickly rebuilds the rubble into a mask. “Can I please have the room?” Beatrice says quietly.

Camila gets up, rubbing Beatrice's shoulder as she passes her. Mary gives Beatrice's hand a quick squeeze and follows her.

Lilith whispers something in Beatrice's ear and hugs her. With their different personalities, it can be hard to remember how similar their family circumstances are. 

The thud of Lilith closing the door behind her unfreezes Ava. She moves to join the rest of Warrior Sisters.

“Ava, could you stay? Please?” Beatrice says, voice barely above a whisper as she sits on the edge of their bed.

“Of course, whatever you need.” Ava says as she joins her. She reaches for Beatrice’s hand and intertwines their fingers. 

Beatrice takes a deep breath and hits the redial button.

Ava forced herself to take a deep, calming breath. She ignored the panicked thoughts flooding her mind, the usual treacherous whispers that the Halo had finally realized she wasn’t worthy and had abandoned her broken body. Taking another deep breath, she saw the reflection of the Halo glowing on the floor. Feeling returned to her legs with a dull ache.

With a groan, she got up in a crouch, surveying the room.

Honestly, it was tacky, even with Las Vegas in mind. Religious iconography was interspersed with fur and velvet lined gun racks. Mounted pistols bordered a life-sized Crucifixion painting.

“A therapist would have a field day with this,” Ava muttered.

She heard footsteps and swore. Of course he’d make a guard stay during a fire alarm. Ava darted behind a Rolls Royce with the Four Horseman painted on the hood.

 _Conserve the Halo_ , she could hear Beatrice saying in her mind. The footsteps were getting closer.

Ava gulped, then steadied her breathing. Beatrice was right. She needed to trust in her admittedly haphazard training.

The footsteps passed her, and she lunged, knocking the man out with a quick jab to the back of the neck.

“Fuck yeah!” Ava said. “I gotta tell Mary about that one.”

She stepped over the man and saw a rosary on a raised pedestal encased in bullet-proof glass. “Bingo.”

Ava reached out, her hands going through the glass, grabbing the rosary and phasing back out. She held the rosary in her palm and closed her eyes. Nothing.

Well, future Ava could figure out the whole vision thing. Current Ava needed to get the hell out of there.

She gritted her teeth. Getting out was always going to be harder than getting in. Ava tensed and jumped, supernaturally high, and then through the ceiling. She nearly got stuck in an A/C vent, but she calmed herself and fought her way up to the top floor. She had to get back to her friends.

Ava gasped as she pushed through the floor of the wedding chapel and found herself floating. She closed her eyes, willing the Halo to power down, and dropped a harmless distance to the plush ground. Though she had better hope Camila had looped the cameras long enough that her levitating hadn't been caught on tape, at least she hadn't overshot the floor she stopped on. Her control of the Halo was getting better.

Ava got to her feet, tucking the hair that had fallen out of the demolished remains of her bun behind her ear. She looked around. The wedding chapel was completely abandoned. She pushed open one of the doors and made her way through the stampede of people still exiting the building.

Ava found her friends at the agreed upon rendezvous point, the parking lot near the back of the hotel.

“You’re not dead,” Lilith said.

“Ava!” Camila exclaimed, running up and hugging her. Ava hugged her back.

“Did you get it?” Beatrice’s tone was brisk. Ava smiled. Even their near nuptials weren’t enough to get Beatrice out of mission-mode.

She discreetly showed them the beads.

“Anything?” Mary said. They were all looking at her expectantly.

“No,” Ava said, frustrated.

“You can do this, Ava,” Beatrice said. “Just focus.”

Ava closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She ignored the noise of police sirens, the shouting, arguing, the unexpected chill of a Vegas winter night, and focused on the rosary. The beads in her hand, the Halo on her back. Centuries of Warrior Nuns.

_The sound of swords clashing. A faint sea breeze. The taste of blood in her mouth. Banners, flying high. People dying around her. Always death, surrounding the Halo Bearer._

"Acre," Ava whispered, before she collapsed.

When she came to, she was in Beatrice’s arms. “You did it!” Beatrice said, hugging her.

“And I didn’t even get my ass kicked this time,” Ava said, grinning as she hugged her back.

“You’re getting better,” Lilith allowed. “But don’t get cocky, kid.”

“Wait, was that a Star Wars reference? Because—” The words die in her mouth as a man shouldered past Mary.

He was built like a linebacker, a scowl glued on his face. This would not be remarkable, except there was a wisp of red clouds following him.

“Please tell me you can see that,” Ava said, her stomach sinking as she pointed at the man.

“See what? A man that clearly never skips leg day?” Mary said.

“Well, I wish he skipped wraith day,” Ava said. “Lilith, I thought you said that they usually left people alone here!”

“Well, usually! Things haven’t been normal since Adriel conned his way out of his tomb, if you haven’t noticed,” Lilith hissed.

“Awesome, we're in a giant crowd, and we can’t use Divinium to speed the process along.” Ava rolled her shoulder and worked her jaw. “How are we going to isolate him?”

“I’ve got this,” Mary said. She strolled over to the man and put a hand on his shoulder.

The scowl on Wraith Bro lessened as Mary talked to him, and led him to a secluded patch of shrubbery in the parking lot.

“—Really sorry about this, but it’s for your own good.” Ava could hear Mary say as they got within speaking distance. Then Mary threw him to the ground, bashing him with one of her shotguns.

Wraith Bro got up inhumanly fast, and shouted, enraged. He lowered his bulky frame and charged at them. Mary twisted out of the way, but Ava, overconfident from her last fight, crouched low to sweep his leg. He fell, crashing into her. Ava landed on the ground, not hard enough for the Halo to kick in, but definitely hard enough that she'd probably feel it the next morning.

He threw a punch, which Beatrice intercepted, twisting his arm behind his back. Lilith grabbed his other arm.

Ava lurched to her feet and decked him in the jaw. “That’s for ruining my wedding night! Now get out of him!” The Halo began to glow.

“Ava, stop!” Beatrice shouted. “This might be a scout for Adriel. Using the halo could be a giant signal flare.”

Wraith Bro used the confusion to attempt to shake the Sister Nuns off, but all he earned was a swift kick to the shins from Camila for his trouble.

“Oh, so we should just ask him politely to leave?!” Ava said, throwing up her hands as she powered down.

“No," Lilith said and put her hand up. Her nails became unnaturally sharp, like claws. “Ava, where’s the demon?”

Ava pointed above Wraith Bro’s left shoulder. Lilith slashed viciously at it, and the demon shrieked. After a couple more of Lilith's wild lunges, the wraith left, shooting into the night. The man collapsed in a heap, groaning. 

They all stared at Lilith.

She shoved her hand into her pocket. “Can we talk about it later?” Lilith said, also for the millionth time since the Vatican. Anytime she revealed some sort of ability like this, she clammed up and refused to discuss it or the implications of her disappearance. 

There was a groan from the bushes. "What happened?" The formerly possessed bro moaned as he sat up.

The rest of them looked at each other and decided Lilith's powers would be a topic best suited to another day.

"Uh, too many drinks, dude. You should go find your friends," Ava said as Camila helped him to his feet. "Also, if you have a lot of nightmares involving demons and hell after this, definitely go see a therapist." 

“We should leave for Acre tomorrow,” Beatrice said as the man staggered away. "Before people here start asking questions."

“I’ll get us tickets,” Camila said, determined.

The adrenaline of the last two hours suddenly left Ava. “And I, am going, to sleep.”

Beatrice’s parents pick up on the first ring.

They look how Ava had expected. Her mother, short and prim, her father’s handsome face in a scowl.

"You went to Vegas, and got married to a _girl._ What were you thinking, Beatrice? How to humiliate your father in the most outlandish way possible?" Beatrice’s mother says. She looks one wrong word away from clutching her literal pearls.

"It's my fault," Ava says. "It was just a joke that went too far. None of this is Beatrice's fault, she was just trying to help me out. I promise I'll clear this up and get it fixed."

"Luckily for you we caught this early and squashed any potential stories in the press. Our lawyers are drafting up the annulment as we speak, you just have to sign," Beatrice’s father says.

"No."

"What?" Beatrice's parents screech in unison.

"Yeah, _what_?" Ava hisses, quietly enough for only Beatrice to hear.

"No. I have spent my entire life trying to be perfect for you. And when I couldn't do that, I repented, by locking myself away and dedicating myself, my soul, to an unending and righteous cause. But it will never be enough. Any of it. Because I'm gay. Go ahead, disown me. Disavow me. But I'm done apologizing for who I am. Because what I," Beatrice's voice starts cracking. Ava squeezes her hand. "What I am is beautiful. Goodbye Mother, Father."

Beatrice hits the end call button.

"Holy shit," Ava breathes.

Beatrice takes a shuddering breath and collapses into Ava's arms.

"You did it," Ava says, stroking Beatrice's hair as she cries into Ava's neck. "You stood up to your parents and got through that wall, all twenty feet. I am so proud of you."

"Thank you," Beatrice says, when she can finally speak. "I cannot believe I did something so—impulsive.”

“Well, you did learn from the best,” Ava teases, gently elbowing her. Beatrice smiles. “So, you want to stay married then?”

“Yes, for a couple of months. I need to show my parents I am not their puppet anymore. With your consent, of course,” Beatrice says, looking away.

"I don't exactly have other marriage offers lined up right now, so I'm down. Also, no offense, but your parents kinda suck, so I’d be happy to help you stick it to ‘em. We do have some other concerns, anyways. End of the world. Adriel.”

“Thank you. Those words are not enough to express my gratitude, everything that I am feeling right now, but they will have to be enough. Thank you."

Ava leans down and presses a kiss to Beatrice’s forehead.

She's seen the Sisters do this a number of times, a gesture of comfort when words alone are not enough. An act of utmost platonic love, of benediction.

So then why, when she does it, does it feel anything but sisterly?

Instead it feels like an electric current passes between them the moment her lips come into contact with Beatrice’s skin, her arms wrapped around the other girl.

Beatrice pulls back and looks at her.

Ava holds her gaze. Her heart is beating dangerously fast.

There's only one part of the ceremony they missed.

"We need to get packed," Beatrice says brusquely, freeing herself from Ava's embrace. "Our flight is in three hours."

"Yeah," Ava says, mechanically.

Beatrice reaches the door handle and turns to smile at Ava, her eyes large and slightly watery. "Truly, thank you," she says.

With a jolt, Ava realizes Beatrice still has her ring on.

"What are—" Ava searches for a word, something safe. "—Halo Bearers for?"

Beatrice shakes her head, chuckling, and goes to collect their friends.

Ava flops back down onto the bed, spread-eagle.

“What’s up?” Ava said as she closed the curtain of the H&M dressing room. “Volunteering to help me try on a dress? What is this, a shovel talk?” Ava joked as she tried to wriggle out of her sweater.

Mary helped her pull the sweater over her head. “Yes,” she said, flatly.

Ava stopped and looked at her. The last time Mary had this expression, she was aiming a shotgun at her.

“Come on, you know we’re not actually getting married.”

“You know the way Beatrice looks at you.”

Ava stilled. “It’s just—what did you call it? Hormones?”

“Look, Beatrice is a kind and welcoming person. You’re not the first one to follow her around like a puppy. But she doesn’t let people in easily. I’ve never seen her warm up to someone so quickly. And if you abuse that—”

“I would never hurt Beatrice,” Ava said fiercely.

“Not intentionally. I know you didn’t plan on this, but if you make a habit of it, you’ll both get burned. And if you do hurt her, I have two shotguns, and I know all of the tallest cliffs in Europe.”

Ava laughed. Mary did not laugh along with her.

All her words, her actions that she's refused to really think about rush through her mind, and present a very compelling argument.

The fact she even suggested the ridiculous plan of getting married in the first place. The way she imagined their real wedding, on that altar. Something she would have never done with any of the other Sisters.

The way that Beatrice looks at her a little too long. The way that Ava looks back.

Oh, _oh._

"I like Beatrice," she whispers to herself.

Well, fuck.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been addicted to the r/relationship and r/AITA twitters lately, so I can't stop thinking about Ava making an r/relationship post after all of this to get advice and it going viral.
> 
> #### Help I (19f) married my friend (20?f) as a joke. We accidentally got married for real. Now I don't want a divorce.
> 
> My friend is always saying I'm a pretty impulsive person. Due to a series of events, we decided to get jokingly almost married while in Vegas, but due to a mixup we got actually married. Her parents are conservative politicians, and when they found out they went ballistic. She asked to stay married for a couple months to piss them off, and I agreed. The thing is, now I realized I actually have feelings for her?? She's so smart and amazing and beautiful and good at everything. I'm so lucky to have her in my life. I guess this wouldn't be a problem but she's very religious, and has made some promises that make a romantic future for us pretty much impossible if she keeps them. I respect her faith, but I'm worried she made these promises years ago due to pressure from her family and to punish herself for being gay. I think we'd be really amazing together. What do I do now??
> 
>   
>  Bagel Rights Now  
> @BagelInterns  
> 
> 
> Replying to   
>  @redditships  
> 
> 
> OP...is your friend a nun????
> 
> ❤ 1K 10:06 AM • Nov 13, 2019
> 
> 32 people are talking about this
> 
>   
>   
> 
> 
>   
>  Bagel Rights Now  
> @BagelInterns  
> 
> 
> Replying to   
>  @BagelInterns and @redditships  
> 
> 
> Is OP's wife a nun?
> 
> 79%Yes
> 
> 21%No
> 
> 1210 votes • Final results  
> ❤ 43 10:09 AM • Nov 13, 2019
> 
> 15 people are talking about this


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